Rhubarb Ruminations: Episode 16

Who turned on the heat in Austin these days? We’ve already gone past the 100 degree mark, and we’re barely into the first week of June. I know that there is much debate about global climate change, but in my limited experience on the planet, I would say that something is awry.

This episode of the Ruminations deals with heat, and plenty of it.

1. The US Grand Prix has a new home in Austin, and now it has a tentative date on the F1 calendar – June 17, 2012. June in Austin can be pretty hot (see above), but it should be business as usual for the teams. They go to plenty of hot climates already – Bahrain and Abu Dhabi being two examples.

Historically, the US and Canadian events have been a week apart for some degree of travel convenience for the teams. Many years ago, they were in September and October. That sounds like a great time frame for a race in Austin, though it might be a little tenuous weather-wise in Montreal.

The FIA has a lot of scheduling issues to contend with as far as the US GP is concerned. Perhaps one of the biggest scheduling concerns is not the heat but, yes, you guessed it, the University of Texas.

Sadly, I suspect a fall event won’t be an option. The bigger logistics challenge for September and October is the University of Texas football program. Add to that the little shindig and musical extravaganza called the Austin City Limits Music Festival and you now have some serious fall scheduling nightmares. A Formula One event in Austin will require all (or most) of the hotel rooms in the area, and you just can’t pull that off when you have 100,000 Longhorns football fans in for game day, or 200,000 people attending ACL over three days.

It’s time to embrace a Formula One race in June, and start counting day the days until the wail of 22 F1 engines can be heard echoing through Central Texas.

2. The heat is on in the Republican Party these days. They seem to be growing more and more disorganized. Given that it is now June 2011, there is yet to be a candidate that is head and shoulders ahead of the rest ideologically or otherwise.

Look at the potential (and some confirmed) options for the Republican party in their run towards a 2012 presidential election. The list is far from impressive - Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Herman Cain (who?), Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul. That’s all you’ve got? Seriously??

It all gets more laughable. When Mitt Romney announced his run for the nomination, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin were busy shifting the attention away from him immediately or taking jabs at him when neither is officially in the running yet. It was like two children saying “look at me” and “my sound bites are better”. Another fragmented effort, indeed.

As far as Romney is concerned, Republicans seem to be trying as hard as they can to distance themselves from his health care stance. But give Romney credit - he has stood by his assertion that his health care plan was the right thing to do given the context of the problems in his state, to the benefit of his constituents. Admirable thought, indeed, from a politician.

At this rate of implosion, I think that an Obama second term looks better day by day.

3. Finally, a little more Heat – from Miami. I for one never truly thought that there was any way that Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh would ever be able to play together successfully. You can barely put the egos in the same arena, or so I thought. I may have been completely wrong, though there is still plenty of time for the Heat to implode, assuming the Dallas Mavericks can get some starters (who aren’t named Dirk) to score.

One thing that doesn’t change with the NBA, and that is the horrible officiating and their apparent inability to call consistent games. LeBron James has someone look at him sideways from the 3rd row and he gets a foul call. Dwyane Wade takes four steps without a dribble – a bus pass would have been better – and there is a no-call. Dirk Nowitzki, on the other hand, gets mugged and can’t get a call. I guess there wasn’t an autopsy, so no wonder there wasn’t a call. Favoritism, perhaps?

The 2011 NBA Finals have been entertaining, yes. But I really wish that there was some consistency in the officiating. I, for one, would enjoy the game a lot more. There are too many divas on the court, and not enough get-in-your-face defense. 

Photo credits: Keith Allison